Merkel To Discuss Ukraine With Putin In Moscow

A Kremlin aide says Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss the crisis in Ukraine at talks in Moscow on May 10.

Merkel will not attend a military parade on Red Square on May 9 commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe.

The event is being shunned by Western leaders angered by Russia's role in the conflict in Ukraine.

But Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Merkel will be in Moscow for events on May 10 marking the victory over Nazi Germany and will hold a news conference with Putin.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande helped broker a cease-fire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on February 12 but it has been violated many times.

Ushakov said 27 heads of state or government will attend the military parade and Putin has talks scheduled with many of them, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Cuban leader Raul Castro.